Elara quickly moved away from me. "Riddle?" she asked, almost nervously.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, it's probably nothing. Do you have a wand?"

"Why would I have a wand?" I asked. "Wands are for geeks and nerds who dress up."

Elara sighed. "You don't have a wand?"

"Nope," I replied, extremely confused. "Why do you have a wand?"

"I'm different, you could say," Elara began. "Where are you from?"

"Vermont, small town called Bloomfield."

"You're from the States?"

"Of course! Do you know where we are?"

"Oh, well...about that," Elara paused. "We'reinEngland."

"Huh?"

"I said 'We're in England.'"

"What?" I shrieked, jumping to my feet. "That's impossible! You're joking, you have to be joking!"

"No, I'm not. What you're about to hear is a completely different world."

I sat back down, curious about what Elara had to say. "What'd you mean?"

"I'm a witch." Elara said simply. "And I'm guessing you are too, just haven't heard of it before now. Your last name is a big deal in the wizarding world. Anyway, you and I are prisoners of the evil Dark Lord Gahtory, who wishes to rule the whole world. He's already taken over many Muggle countries." She paused to catch her breath. "He also killed my parents because they wouldn't join him. I'm guessing he kidnapped you because of you heritage, or what he thinks your heritage is."

"What's a muggle?"

"A muggle is someone who has no magical abilities and was not born in a magical family."

"But what if I'm a muggle and not who this Gahtory guy thinks I sm?"

"He'll probably kill you."

"Oh." I gulped. "Well, I'm sorry about your parents. How long have you been here anyway?"

"I don't know, a few months? It's hard to tell time here."

"Do they feed you?"

"Sometimes, but not much. I've gotten used to it."

I suddenly felt extremely hungry. The ache in my stomach grew until it consumed in a search for food. "Uh, do you have any food?"

"No, but-Shh!" Elara pushed me down and laid down next to me. A loud creaking filled the dark room as bright light filled in.

"Here you go, weaklings. Enjoy, before the Dark Lord summons you to his presence." The light disappeared, and feet could be heard as other people approached the door.

"Cmon," Elara said, grabbing my hand. "You're lucky they fed us today. Let's hope they gave us better stuff than last time."

Together we crawled towards where the light had come from. Many other people, mainly adults and a few children, were crowded around a bowl. At least over here there was enough light to see. Elara grabbed two slices of bread and handed one to me. We ate in silence, and I watched the other people in here eat.

One of the younger adults was studying me. He was rather beaten up, with scrapes all over his face and arms. Behind his round black glasses, his eyes were filled with determination and something else, the one thing I didn't have: Hope.